ConnPIRG Urges Passage of Today’s Final Health Reform Legislation

Today’s health care package offers Americans the relief they need from unrelenting premium hikes from the insurance industry. Within days, every member of the House of Representatives must cast their vote and choose: the status quo of skyrocketing costs or a future where we actually hold the insurance companies accountable and rein in costs.
 
In this final package, the special deals are out. Some new cost-containment ideas from both parties, like fraud prevention and state-level experiments with malpractice reform, are in. The worst practices of today’s insurance industry – pre-existing condition exclusions and coverage rescissions – will be ended. Consumers without decent coverage from their employer will be able to choose the same private coverage choices Members of Congress get.
 
Most importantly, and despite opponents’ repeated assertions to the contrary, this legislation takes unprecedented steps to lower costs for families and small businesses: focusing on prevention and primary care, rewarding doctors for quality not quantity, researching which treatments work best, and empowering an independent board to drive cost-containment going forward. The independent, nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, known for its very conservative approach, predicts the bill will lower the nation’s deficits by more than a trillion dollars in the next two decades.
 
As this final vote approaches, Americans will be watching each and every Representative to see where they stand: with Americans who need relief from rising health costs or with the private insurance industry. ConnPIRG urges members of the House of Representatives to enact health reform.